Name Change for Numerology in Uttarakhand

If what you want is to be known by the new spelling, the first way may be all you need, and it costs nothing. If you want it on your passport, your bank account and your property papers, you need the second. What does not work is the middle: the new spelling on some official forms and the old on others.

Step 1: Write the new spelling in full

The whole name, as it will appear on a passport: given name in one line, surname in the next.

Step 2: Write it in Hindi as well

Decide if the Hindi spelling changes, and how.

Step 3: List every record you hold

Aadhaar, PAN, bank accounts, passport, licence, voter ID, insurance, property papers, employer records. Each will need an update.

Step 4: Check what is coming up

A board examination, a visa, a job joining, a property purchase or a loan. Do not change your name in the middle of any of these.

Step 5: Ask if informal use would do

If you only want to be known by the new spelling, you may not need a legal change.

Step 6: Wait a few weeks

Use the new spelling informally first. If you still want it after a month, file.

Step 7: Fix it and do not change it again

Write the final spelling down and copy it letter for letter into every paper.

The Gazette office sets no limit that we know of on how many times a person may publish a change of name. Aadhaar does. A name can be changed in Aadhaar only twice in a lifetime, and since almost every other record now checks against Aadhaar, that is the limit that counts.

• One change for numerology leaves you one more for the rest of your life.
• A woman who changes a spelling now and a surname at marriage later has used both.
• Changing to a new spelling and then back again uses both, and leaves you where you started.
• UIDAI describes a request for exception processing through its regional office once the limit is reached. Do not plan on it.

Each Gazette notice is also permanent. A second notice does not erase the first. A person who changes three times has three public notices, and every office that looks will see all three.

Step 1: Fix the final spelling

In English and in Hindi. Write it down.

Step 2: Make the affidavit

State the old name, the new name, your father's or husband's name and your address. Sign before a notary.

Step 3: Publish the newspaper notice

In a daily local leading newspaper. Check the proof letter by letter, and keep the original newspaper.

Step 4: Type the form and sign the undertaking

Two typed copies of the specimen, signed in your old name with two witnesses, and an undertaking showing the old and the new name.

Step 5: Prepare the CD, photographs and certificate

The same text on a CD in MS Word, two self-attested photographs with identity proof, and a certificate that both copies match.

Step 6: Pay the charge on BharatKosh

Commonly Rs 1,100 for an adult. It is not refunded.

Step 7: Send the file yourself

In person or by post, with a request letter, to the Controller of Publications, Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054.

Step 8: Download the Gazette and read it

Check Part IV on egazette.gov.in each week. When your notice appears, read both spellings before you take it to any office.

If the Gazette is printed with a wrong letter, see gazette corrigendum at once, before you use it.

Parents often ask for this soon after a birth, or before a board examination. The two are very different.

• Before the name is registered. If the birth record has no name yet, simply give the spelling you want when you add the name. Nothing is being changed.
• After the name is registered. A new spelling is a change of name for a minor. Both parents sign, and the Gazette charge for a minor is commonly Rs 1,700.
• Before board registration. The school can act on the Gazette and send the new spelling to the board.
• After a board result. Boards restrict a change of name after the result. Ask the school before you assume it can be done.

The limit of two Aadhaar name changes belongs to the child, not to the parents. A change made for a child at 8 leaves one for the rest of the child's life. See minor name change in Uttarakhand.

A typical case we handle: a shopkeeper in Haldwani added a letter to his first name on advice, and had it changed in his Aadhaar first. His PAN and bank still had the old spelling, and his account failed its verification. He then filed a Gazette notice for the new spelling and brought PAN and the bank in line. It took him some months to sort out what a single visit had started. This is an illustrative example of the type of case we handle, not a named client review.

When you do not need us

If informal use is enough for you, there is nothing to file. And a plain adult change of spelling can be filed by you with the Department's guideline and this site. We are useful for checking a one-letter change on every page before it is printed, and for planning the record updates. Our charge is quoted per case.

Is a gazette required for a numerology name change?

Yes, if you want the new spelling on your official records. Not if you only use it informally.

Is adding one letter to my name a name change?

Yes. A spelling you choose is a change of name, however small.

Can I change my name spelling in Aadhaar for numerology?

With a Gazette notification. Aadhaar allows a name change only twice in a lifetime.

Can I use a numerology spelling without changing it legally?

Yes, in daily life and on a visiting card. Sign official papers in your recorded spelling.

Will my certificates change after a numerology name change?

No. Degrees and marksheets stay as issued. Keep the Gazette with them.

How many times can I change my name?

Aadhaar allows two name changes in a lifetime, and that is the limit that counts in practice.

What if I have already used both Aadhaar name changes?

UIDAI's own FAQ says a further update needs a Gazette notification for the change of name. You enrol with it at a centre, and once the request is rejected for the limit, you call 1947 or write to UIDAI asking for exception processing through the regional office, quoting the enrolment number.

Do I have to visit the UIDAI regional office for a third change?

Usually not. UIDAI's office memorandum says residents need not visit regional offices unless specifically asked. The request goes to the regional office by email or post.

Does correcting the Hindi line on Aadhaar use up a name change?

No. UIDAI's procedure says a name update made because of an update of the regional language is not counted as one of the name update chances.

Are there limits on other Aadhaar changes too?

Yes. UIDAI allows a name update twice in a lifetime, and a gender update and a date of birth update once each. Address and mobile number have no such limit.

What does an Aadhaar name update cost?

A demographic update, which covers the name, costs Rs 75 when done on its own, and is free when done along with a biometric update, as UIDAI's fee list shows.

Can I change my passport to a numerology spelling?

Only by the change of name route. An Indian mission's guidance says adding or dropping a word or spelling needs two Government ID documents in the changed name and a Gazette notification or newspaper advertisement.